Picardy

Pemberton, WA

The Pannell name needs no introduction in the Australian wine industry. The legendary Bill Pannell was instrumental in putting Western Australia on the fine wine map after planting vines on the renowned Moss Wood Vineyard at Margaret River in 1970 and producing some of Australia’s greatest Cabernet based wines. With the reputation of Moss Wood well and truly established, Bill sold Moss Wood and, together with son Dan, chose to turn their focus towards Burgundy in their new challenge – Picardy. They established the Picardy vineyard in WA’s cool Pemberton region from 1995 on a gentle north facing slope of well-drained loam/gravel soils at an altitude of 300 metres, just 35 kilometres from the cold Southern Ocean. Carefully selected Dijon clonal material of both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay was planted at high density, to encourage competition and low yields per vine, and trained low as in Burgundy, to benefit from the heat radiating from the gravel soils in the evenings. Smaller amounts of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz were also planted. The Pannells believe in “growing soils” and so manage the vineyard sustainably. Their meticulous detail among the vines includes crop thinning at veraison to reduce yields, removing any damaged or inferior fruit prior to harvest, and picking exclusively by hand.

Picardy is now well established as one of Western Australia’s finest producers and is arguably the finest Pinot Noir producer in the state, with Chardonnay and Merlot blends not far behind.

Not available in WA.